April 26, 2010Poison Phrase: We can’t proceed without approval
It’s a subtle distinction, but when I received an email that said,
-We can’t proceed without your approval,
something didn’t seem quite right. When I translated it in my mind into
- We need your approval to proceed,
it felt better. This is the kind of distinction I edit constantly in my own writing. The revised version puts more emphasis on what the sender wants and on forward momentum.
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